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Space Saturday, November 24th 2012 at 12:00 pm

To Find Life on Other Planets, Scientists Will Look For… Hairspray?

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We’ve never been closer to finding life on other planets. It shouldn’t come as a surprise, but it’s an important fact to keep in mind when you think about what you’re about to read. In trying to figure out how the human race might be able terraform and live on other planets, scientists have discovered what may be the best way to detect whether intelligent alien species have been there before us. While it’s a technically advanced process and nothing scoff at, in the end scientists have decided that, from now on, they will make a concerted effort to look for signs of spray deodorant and hairspray on previously undiscovered worlds.

Confused? Let’s clarify the situation. Scientists from the Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, a non-profit coalition of space-minded scientific thinkers, have hypothesized that the easiest way for us to determine whether or not aliens have ever inhabited far-away planets is to look for signs of an artificial atmosphere. The idea stemmed from a fairly simple, but logical deduction; “If humans are looking for ways to alter a planet’s atmosphere to make it habitable for our species, then what’s to say that an alien race hasn’t already done so?”

So what do they look for, exactly? The group believes that artificial gases like chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) would probably play some role in the terraforming process. As you might have guessed, most people already use CFCs in their everyday lives in aerosol-baed products like hairspray. Scientists think that, since CFCs aren’t created naturally, finding them on other planets would be a concrete sign that an alien race at least attempted to terraform there. CFCs could also be a sign that, like us, said aliens aren’t exactly eco-friendly.

Technically, there currently isn’t a device that can detect CFCs on other planets, so this is all theoretical for now. That said, the Blue Marble Space Institute has indicated that creating the technology isn’t a stretch. If we applied ourselves, humanity could be looking for intelligent life across the universe in about a decade. Of course, even once scientists are able to start looking, we’re still gambling on the fact that every form of intelligent life found a reason to make sure their hair stayed in place.

(via AstroBiology Magazine, image credit: Hoong Wei Long)

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  • http://twitter.com/LizPlz Lazy Laser Liz

    Well that certainly IS a creative new approach, and a whole lot more proactive than sitting around trying to listen for possible alien radio signals.

  • Jack Bond

    I don’t fully understand that, but it sounds like something kind of specific to look for. What if the alien life is just some kind of animal species? Why are we assuming the aliens have technology or chemistry?

  • Natey

    I don’t think we’re assuming anything; we’re just looking for ways to spot signs of life. One way to do that is to look for substances that don’t occur naturally. If sentient, chemistry-using life is the only kind of life we can spot from a distance, then that’s exactly what we should be looking for. That’s also why we’ve been listening for alien radio signals as well.

  • Ouseph Arimboor

    Intelligent life in other planets does not necessarily be like that of human beings. It may be far superior or in a different form. Let us wait for the wonders to be revealed.